WE WARMLY THANK OUR FUNDERS, SPONSORS AND PARTNERS: CONTENTS GOVERNMENT FUNDERS

GREETINGS ...... 2 - 6

YEAR-ROUND ACTIVITIES ...... 7

FESTIVAL GUIDE ...... 8

THE TEAM ...... 9 PREMIERE SPONSORS WHAT’S NEW ...... 9 Installation: Speakers Corner with Babel Collective Festival Lounge

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 18 ...... 10 - 13 RBC Emerging Directors’ Spotlight & Pitch Event Happy 1 Year, Joy, Shade, The Story of Lover’s Leap FESTIVAL SPONSORS Special Presentation: Regent Park School of Music A Collaboration with the Regent Park

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 19 ...... 14 - 17 After the Last River Kaaka Muttai (The Crow’s Egg) Mina Walking

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 20 ...... 18 - 23 Shorts: Reimagining Home Gazonto, Three Walks, The Home Promised, Canicule (Summer Day) Les frémissements du thé, We Live This Margarita With A Straw

FESTIVAL SCHEDULE AT A GLANCE 24 - 25

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 21 ...... 26 - 37 Breakfast & A Movie: Shana: The Wolf’s Music Lowdown Tracks Shorts: Testaments of Home The Routes, My Enemy My Brother, Seeds Of The Past FESTIVAL MEMBERS Call and Response, Passing, Home (Portrait of Daybi), Holy Mother My Mother, Seaview, Abel’s Mom, Julio The Andy and Beth Burgess Family Foundation. Home Feeling: Struggle for a Community The Capsule The John and Deborah Harris Family Foundation. Closing Night Film: Meet the Patels

FESTIVAL AWARDS ...... 37

FESTIVAL SUPPORTERS WORKSHOPS ...... 38 - 39 Speakers’ Corner Presentation and Workshop with Babel Collective Digital Activism Screening & Panel Intergenerational Filmmaking Workshop

SCHOOL PROGRAM ...... 40 - 46

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...... 48 Welcome to the 13th Annual Regent Park Film Festival! In the past two years, I have witnessed the Regent Park Film Festival move through an incredible period of growth. We are settled into our home at Daniels Spectrum and have established our Community means so much to all of us, everywhere. It bestows a sense of belonging, is a means year-round presence in Regent Park. to share daily life, celebrate accomplishments and weather storms. Film is a medium to articulate that experience, to give it a voice and channel a viewpoint. It is a huge pleasure to see familiar faces participating in our programs, stopping by the office to chat, or in attendance at other community events. In 2013, we launched Regent Park’s first The purpose of the Regent Park Film Festival is to be a vehicle for inner city communities around outdoor screening series. Now, Under The Stars: Movies In The Park is a city-wide event that the world to express themselves - to offer films as a means to be understood, to tell stories and draws over 2600 people over the summer. This growing success would not be possible, without share life. As we struggle with the problems of crime, poverty, and disenfranchisement in our the tremendous support we receive from Regent Park community members and organizations. cities, the festival showcases a perspective we don’t usually see. The filmmakers are diverse in their origins and cradle with energy. They are Community is at the heart of what we do. The 13th Annual Regent Park Film Festival marks the heart and soul of the festival and this glorious showcase belongs to the culminating event of the year and I could not be more excited about our lineup of films, them. workshops and panels. I encourage everyone to come early and spend time with us in the Festival Lounge, which promises a great selection Enjoy! of films, art and music. Welcome to old friends and new friends of the Festival!

Gail Picco Amanda Pileggi Chair, Board of Directors Festival Manager, Regent Park Film Festival

After a wonderful year on maternity leave, I was thrilled to return to the Regent Park Film Festival, where art and community compliment and celebrate one another - behind the scenes, Like many before me, I moved to Toronto this year to try and make it my home. When I arrived, on the screens and all the spaces in between. I was told to visit Regent Park and watch the final towers being knocked down. It reminded me of places that I used to live in, in London, a city constantly in flux where I had recently taken As a free film festival, we bring in a larger diversity of people to enjoy a film festival experience. part in housing campaigns fighting against gentrification and social cleansing. Regent Park felt This Festival takes place amidst the changing landscape of Regent Park, ’s largest and like home, in the way that many inner city areas across the globe are dealing with the same oldest housing project. Its redevelopment is a significant shift in how people engage with the issues of affordable housing shortages, changing demographics, and regeneration. community. If you are coming here for the first time, I encourage you to take in the world

around you - the new condos, the old brick apartments, this very new arts and community hub. th The 13 annual Regent Park Film Festival highlights the ways in which home can come to mean many different things. The theme of redefining concepts of home permeates all the Most of all, whether you are a visitor or a resident, I encourage you to films that are showcased this year, from the struggle of not having a home to finding home strike up a conversation with someone new. With a discussion after in unexpected places. each screening, a festival lounge with ongoing programming, a speakers corner in the foyer, the setting is ripe for interaction. Use film I hope these films from across the world, selected for you by the as a conduit for conversation and join as we celebrate artistic talent, programming team and volunteers from the local community, and leverage its power to strengthen the sense of a shared community. will entertain, surprise and get you talking about what home Welcome! means for you.

Ananya Ohri Onyeka Igwe Executive Director, Regent Park Film Festival Programmer, Regent Park Film Festival 2015

2 REGENT PARK FILM FESTIVAL REEL IMAGES REAL COMMUNITIES 3 On behalf of the Toronto Arts Council, I would like to extend a warm welcome to the attendees of the Regent Park Film Festival. We are proud to support Toronto’s only free-of-charge community film festival. The City of Toronto, through the Toronto Arts Council, invests public funds in the annual Investing in creativity – the path to Canadian prosperity operations of hundreds of arts organizations, which, like the Toronto Regent Park Film Festival, are recognized for their vital contribution to Toronto culture. The future is now. Focusing on innovation is the surest way to stay in step with and take advantage of our changing world. We all have access to an unlimited, renewable resource: TAC applauds the Regent Park Film Festival for providing a platform where audiences can see the ability to create, dream, imagine and reinvent our future. In Canada, 671,000 cultural the work of local independent and emerging filmmakers, as well as that of acclaimed workers, including 140,000 professional artists, energize our social, human and economic filmmakers from across the world. The creativity, diversity and innovation of the films and filmmakers offered here make this festival a powerful catalyst for both community engagement development. Culture’s contribution to the GDP is close to $50 billion. Investing in creativity and the expression of identity. is the path to Canadian prosperity. We are sure that audiences will enjoy this extraordinary festival. At the Canada Council for the Arts we are proud to support Congratulations to the staff and board of Regent Park Film Festival, and thank you to the the Regent Park Film Festival because art is serious business volunteers who make this exciting event possible. – for individuals, for society, for the present and for our future. Wishing you continued success,

Yours truly,

Simon Brault, O.C., O.Q. Director and CEO, Canada Council for the Arts Nova Bhattacharya President, Toronto Arts Council

The Ontario Arts Council is pleased to support the Regent Park Film Festival, now in its th 13 year. It is my great pleasure to congratulate the Regent Park Film Festival on its 13th year of hosting this important social and cultural event. This annual celebration of the community through film brings together people from Regent Park and the surrounding neighbourhoods. Throughout the year, the community screenings, With its commitment to showing films that resonate with Regent Park residents, the film facilitated panel discussions and workshops foster an audience for the films shown at the festival is unique in its dedication to truly entertaining, inspiring, and engaging the community. festival. Through film, we are able to connect and better understand the lives of our neighbours, and the world around us. These also provide a forum for nascent filmmakers in the community to explore the themes and stories that reflect their countries of origin or their lives in Canada. Festival-goers are The Regent Park Film Festival also draws visitors from across the City, bringing them to our vibrant and diverse neighbourhood. We are lucky to have such great programming in our thus exposed to the work of young filmmakers from across Canada and around the world. own backyard.

Congratulations to all of the staff and volunteers who participated in We can thank the festival for enriching the Regent Park community year round, with workshops the creation of work or in the festival programming. and outdoor screenings that bring us together. None of this would be possible without the hard work and dedication of the residents, organizers and volunteers who Sincerely, make this all possible. Thank you for your efforts to bring our community together.

Sincerely, Rita Davies Chair, Ontario Arts Council

Deputy Mayor Pam McConnell City Councillor, Wd 28, Toronto Centre-Rosedale

4 REGENT PARK FILM FESTIVAL REEL IMAGES REAL COMMUNITIES 5 On behalf of everyone at RBC, welcome to the 2015 Regent Park Film Festival. We are proud to REGENT PARK FILM FESTIVAL IN THE COMMUNITY partner with this great Festival for the fourth year in promoting arts and culture in Regent Park. YEAR-ROUND ACTIVITIES Just as RBC has a longstanding commitment to this community, we also have a longstanding commitment to emerging artists and filmmakers. Film remains one of the most impactful ways in which to inspire a broad audience, and I hope these films do exactly that. Regent Park ACTING SKILLS FOR FILM (WINTER 2015, FALL 2015) continues to see some significant transformations that began a number of years ago, and events like this highlight the incredible revitalization underway and provide an opportunity to view the Led by Kick Start Arts, in partnership with the Regent Park Film Festival, participants community through the eyes of local artists. As a local employer and representative of the learned the basic skills for acting on film and television. Through hands-on exercises, community, we are proud to continue to support this Festival and watch the community evolve improvisation and work on scripted scenes, the workshop gave participants the chance to and grow. learn about the real world of being an actor. This project is part of the larger initiative, Stories From The Inner City: The Regent Park Project, a collaborative arts initiative, telling Events like this do not happen without a great team working behind the scenes to ensure the stories of Regent Park. everything runs smoothly. I would like to congratulate all of this year’s filmmakers, and extend a special thank you to both the organizers and volunteers whose dedication helped make this FILMMAKING COURSE (JULY 2015) year’s Festival a reality to be enjoyed by all. We hope you enjoy the Festival! Led by Kick Start Arts, in partnership with the Regent Park Film Festival, this production course offered participants and opportunity to connect with professional artists and develop skills in producing, directing, design, and camera work through hands-on exploration. Scripts that were developed as part of the Acting Skills For Film course, were used to develop scenes. Abel’s Mom, screening at the 13th Annual Regent Park Film Festival, as part of Shorts: Testaments of Home (see pages 29-34), came from this project. Kim Mason Regional President, Greater Toronto RBC Royal Bank UNDER THE STARS: MOVIES IN THE PARK For the third year in a row we hosted hundreds of film enthusiasts and community members at our outdoor summer screening series, Under The Stars: Movies In the Park. Produced in conjunction with Daniel Spectrum Summer Series, we screened six critically acclaimed films: Dear White People, Bend It Like Beckham, Boyz In The Hood, Big Hero 6, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, and Do The Right Thing. Attendees enjoyed fun activities like free yoga classes, DJ workshops, face-painting, Bollywood dancing, soccer drills and a rhythmic drum circle.

To stay informed about all of our year-round workshops, screenings and events, join our newsletter by visiting our website! SPECTRUM COLLECTIVE SUMMER ARTS LAB

The Spectrum Collective produces the Summer Arts Lab, an opportunity for youth who www.regentparkfilmfestival.com have completed Grades 6-8, to explore visual arts, music, theatre, dance and media arts in collaboration with professional artists. This was a free one-week program that culminated in a community performance and potluck. The Spectrum Collective is made up of several tenant organizations operating in Daniels Spectrum: ArtHeart Community Art Centre, Collective of Black Artists, Native Earth Performing Arts, Regent Park Film Festival and Regent Park School of Music.

6 REGENT PARK FILM FESTIVAL REEL IMAGES REAL COMMUNITIES 7 13th ANNUAL REGENT PARK FILM FESTIVAL GUIDE THE TEAM

The Regent Park Film Festival is Toronto’s only free-of-charge multi-cultural community film festival. We are dedicated to showcasing local and international independent works to inner-city communities across Toronto. We host an annual festival, year-round school and community screenings, workshops, and discussions at Ananya Ohri Amanda Pileggi Onyeka Igwe Mariam Zaidi no cost to the public. Executive Director Festival Manager Programmer Programming Coordinator WE OFFER FREE ADMISSION | FREE CHILDCARE RESERVE YOUR SEAT TODAY www.regentparkfilmfestival.com

Seats will be reserved for you at the screening up until 10 minutes prior to the start time. After which, seats are available on a first come, first serve basis. Diana Villadi Kimberly Miller Pryce Kadon Douglas All films are followed by a short Q&A facilitated by our programming committee. Fundraising and Development Volunteer Coordinator Marketing and Outreach Talkbacks are in-depth discussions with invited guests and filmmakers. Coordinator Coordinator

QUESTIONS? Email [email protected] Call 416-599-7733 Stay updated about the Festival: WHAT’S NEW

INSTALLATION: Speakers Corner by Babel Collective @RegentParkFilm @RegentParkFilm This special art installation will run every day of the festival. RegentParkFilmFestival #RPFF2015 If you are interested in participating in this project consider attending the Speakers Corner Presentation and Workshop with Babel Collective, see page 38. Babel, a collective of Toronto filmmakers and visual artists that make work concerned with complex social issues, will be resurrecting Speakers Corner for this year's festival. Speakers Corner was a booth, where the general public could express their views and broadcast them live on Canadian television. Babel Collective will be recording the faces and opinions of people in our community to put together a short experimental film that will screen on our closing night.

FESTIVAL LOUNGE See Schedule at a Glance for more info, pages 24-25. Visit our Festival Lounge, an interactive screening library and hub where film, art, and community intersect. The Lounge is open Wednesday - Friday, 3:00 PM - 9:00 PM and Saturday, 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM, in the Daniels Spectrum Artscape Lounge. Festival Lounge films generously provided by: ImagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival, Inside Out LGBT Film Festival, Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival, The National Film Board of Canada (NFB)

8 REGENT PARK FILM FESTIVAL REEL IMAGES REAL COMMUNITIES 9 Happy 1 Year

RBC EMERGING DIRECTORS’ SPOTLIGHT & PITCH EVENT WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 18 | 7:30 PM – 9:30 PM

We begin this evening with a conversation on the experiences of actor Clé Bennet, director Min Sook Lee, director and screenwriter Dawn Wilkinson, director and actor Sharon Lewis, on the hard work and magic involved in getting a start in the industry. The panel will be followed by film screenings, and then the pitch contest. We are excited to have actor, director and choreographer Corey Bowles, takes us through the evening as our gracious host! HAPPY 1 YEAR WEDNESDAY Alicia Bunyan-Sampson NOVEMBER Drama | Canada | 2014 | 11 mins 18 Teenaged Charlee is set to celebrate a milestone like none other. It’s been a year since she had her abortion. Those plans are quickly halted however, when she discovers a secret that threatens to tear her family apart. Writer/Director Alicia Bunyan-Sampson was introduced to storytelling as a means for escape, but in her debut film she challenges viewers to do anything but that. Happy 1 Year is an honest and intergenerational look at how women silently carry trauma with them and the struggle to find a voice. Alicia Bunyan Sampson is a 26-year-old Toronto-based creator. Happy 1 Year (2014) was screened at the Reel Sisters Of The Diaspora Film Festival & Lecture Series, Toronto Black Film Festival, Reelworld Film Festival, San Diego Black Film Festival and the Tribeca Film Institute. Her work primarily focuses on her identity as a black woman and her relationship to trauma and other beings.

10 REGENT PARK FILM FESTIVAL REEL IMAGES REAL COMMUNITIES 11 JOY Heyishi Zhang Drama | Canada | 2015 | 15 mins

Heyishi Zhang weaves a nuanced story of quietly defiant 9-year-old, Jia Qing, as she navigates between the worlds of her traditional Chinese family, and the complex webs of elementary school politics. The film provides poignant observations on the experience of feeling different in a society that sees itself as completely tolerant; and reveals some novel benefits of having parents who don't speak the same language as the teachers. Heyishi Zhang is an emerging female director of colour. She recently graduated from Ryerson University’s Film Production Program and is most known for her film Gay Mean Girls, and Joy, which won best at the Ryerson University Film Festival.

The Story of Lover’s Leap

Joy THE STORY OF LOVER’S LEAP Andrew Moir Documentary | Canada / Jamaica | 2015 | 11 mins SHADE Michael Nguyen Filmed in the town of Tophill, Jamaica, The Story of Lover’s Leap is an exploration of the ways in Documentary | Canada | 2015 | 5 mins which ancient legends and oral histories are carried through generations and retold in numerous varied ways. In this film three women tell their own version of the story of Lover’s Leap allowing Shade is an irresistible shout-out to all those who think when it comes to beauty, white is right. us to take a glimpse into the ways that folklore captures the attention of younger generations. This crackling short features two young Somali poets, Zeinab Aidid and Shadiya Aidid, who deliver the goods on the pressure that black and brown people feel to conform to western notions of Andrew Moir’s documentaries include Uprooted, a short about a tobacco farmer giving up his beauty. Fun, irreverent and uplifting, Shade is crisp and stylistic, with an unforgettably confident crop forever; Just As I Remember, a personal documentary about two young fathers living with spoken word performance by two intrepid young poets. ALS; and Returning Nowhere, a feature-length film currently in production about a Jamaican migrant worker facing terminal cancer. Michael Nguyen is an artist, photographer, and freelance videographer based in Toronto, Ontario. He attended the School of Design at George Brown College where he studied Art and Design Conversation with Min Sook Lee, Dawn Wilkinson, Sharon Lewis and Clé Bennet; Foundation. He loves to immerse himself in film, community, art, books, and sports. and moderated by Corey Bowles.

Co-Presenter Community Partners

SPECIAL PRESENTATION: REGENT PARK SCHOOL OF MUSIC A COLLABORATION WITH THE REGENT PARK FILM FESTIVAL Shade Members of the Regent Park School of Music's Community band, worked with local filmmaker, Tyler Collins, to produce and score a stop motion animation around the theme of this year's festival - redefining concepts of home. This next generation of Regent Park's creative talent will perform their score to accompany an exclusive screening of their film.

12 REGENT PARK FILM FESTIVAL REEL IMAGES REAL COMMUNITIES 13 After The Last River

AFTER THE LAST RIVER THURSDAY NOVEMBER 19 | 3:00 PM - 5:30 PM

Victoria Lean Documentary | Canada | 2015 | 88 mins THURSDAY This innovative social-justice documentary explores the First Nations activism opposing the De Beers diamond mine in Attawapiskat, Northern NOVEMBER Ontario. The filmmaker, Vicki Lean, follows her father, an ecotoxicologist, 19 to Attawapiskat in order to find out how De Beers diamond mine is affecting the community environmentally and socially.

Vicki Lean holds an MFA in Film Production and an MBA from York University. Her award-winning first feature, After the Last River, is screening across Canada. Beyond filmmaking, Lean is also a consultant for the creative industries, with a focus on Northern Canada, and is a board member at Trinity Square Video.

Panel with Vicki Lean, Ali Kazimi, Wanda Vanderstoop and Julian Carrington.

Co-Presenter Community Partner

14 REGENT PARK FILM FESTIVAL REEL IMAGES REAL COMMUNITIES 15 KAAKA MUTTAI (THE CROW’S EGG) THURSDAY NOVEMBER 19 | 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

M. Manikandan Drama | | 2014 | 109 mins

This comedy-drama set in , India invites us into the world of two young boys living in the slums. They call themselves Crow’s Egg the Elder and Crow’s Egg the Younger as they play across the city and make friends with local characters like Juice Box. This light and warm-hearted feature film navigates the social and political realities of India through the innocent eyes of two young boys.

M. Manikandan began his career as an assistant cameraman in feature films. His career in directing started with Wind (2010) a critically acclaimed fictional short film, which was an official selection in many renowned film festivals. The Crow’s Egg was produced by Grass Root Films, and India Pvt Ltd.

Co-Presenter Community Partner

Mina Walking

MINA WALKING THURSDAY NOVEMBER 19 | 8:30 PM - 10:45 PM

Yosef Baraki Drama | Afghanistan & Canada | 2015 | 110 mins

Mina is a young girl who sells knick-knacks on the streets of Kabul to earn enough for her family who consist of her grandfather suffering from Alzheimer’s and her father who does little to care for and nurture Mina. Not wanting to neglect the possibility of educating herself, Mina makes a rebellious decision that will drastically change her life.

Following his studies in Film Production & Philosophy at Toronto’s York University and Humber College, Yosef Baraki wrote and directed his fifth short film Der Kandidat, recipient of the prestigious Norman McLaren Award at the Montreal World Film Festival in 2013 and the Best International Short Film Award at the Afghanistan Human Rights Film Festival.

Talkback with filmmakers in attendance.

Kaaka Muttai (The Crow’s Egg) Co-Presenter Community Partner

16 REGENT PARK FILM FESTIVAL REEL IMAGES REAL COMMUNITIES 17 Gazonto

SHORTS: REIMAGINING HOME FRIDAY NOVEMBER 20 | 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Stories about understanding the spaces we inhabit, move around FRIDAY in and belong to. NOVEMBER GAZONTO 20 John Greyson Documentary / Experimental | Canada | 2014 | 5 mins

Canadian Director, John Greyson, ingeniously brings the concept of war to the doorstep of Canadian viewers by reconstructing the Israeli strikes on Gaza in Toronto. He asks, “what would happen to Toronto, or to your city, if, like Gaza, six thousand places had been heavily bombed in just a few weeks?” Using video game simulation the film not only reconstructs war in a space common to Canadians, it also highlights the desensitization of war and violence in modern culture through gaming.

John Greyson is a Toronto film/video artist whose shorts, features and installations have shown at festivals around the world garnering prestigious awards. An associate professor in film production at York University, he was awarded the Toronto Arts Award for Film/Video in 2000, and the Bell Canada Video Art Award in 2007.

18 REGENT PARK FILM FESTIVAL REEL IMAGES REAL COMMUNITIES 19 THREE WALKS Mary Porter Documentary | Canada | 2014 | 12 mins CANICULE (SUMMER DAY) A place is a place is a place — Three Walks is a series of stop-motion animations that explore how Felix Dufour-Laperriere we construct a sense of place from the spaces we inhabit. Director, Mary Porter, chose three sites Drama | & Canada | 2011 | 15 mins to which she has a personal connection and takes the viewer on a personal journey to explore her understanding of these places. Set in Halifax, Toronto and Vancouver, the film is a uniquely A young, restless boy is left to his own devices while his mother, a caretaker, spends the day Canadian perspective on a country growing through government projects, international influence at her employer’s apartment. Through subtle but striking combinations of sound and image, and internal gentrification. this experimental piece reminds us of the darker implications of immigrant labour.

Mary Porter is a Canadian visual artist and arts educator based in Toronto. Porter’s work has been Félix Dufour-Laperrière was born in 1981 in Chicoutimi, Quebec. He studied, lives and works in shown in exhibitions throughout Canada and the U.S. She currently teaches at OCAD University Montreal. His films have been presented and awarded in numerous national and international and Sheridan College and holds a BFA from NSCAD University and an MFA from York University. galleries, museums and festivals.

Three Walks Canicule (Summer Day)

THE HOME PROMISED Betty Xie LES FREMISSEMENTS DU THÉ (THE WAY OF TEA) Documentary | Taiwan & Canada | 2014 | 19 mins Marc Fouchard Drama | France | 2014 | 21 mins A case study on forced displacement, and a redefinition of the concept of home. Set in the context of Taiwan’s rapid urbanization, residents of the Shaoxing housing community face Les frémissements du thé (The Way of Tea) follows a young, rebellious man named Alex in a small eviction, and must choose a potential new location to call home. Through the president of the town in northern France as he enters into Malik’s grocery store. While faced with racism and community’s council, we gain a sense of both a personal and logistical interpretation of the issue hostility by Alex, Malik calmly invites him to have tea with him, showing no discrimination or at hand, as well as a sense of what home means to him. The Home Promised is an engaging and anger, in exchange for free groceries. The following day, Alex faces a conflict and finds protection thought-provoking film that will challenge audiences as well as give a sense of appreciation. in Malik’s grocery store as he stands guard with patience to resolve potential conflict.

Betty Xie has written and directed both fiction shorts and documentaries. Most recently, Marc Fouchard was selected in 1998 for Milia in the “Club of young creators” at the Palais des her documentary short The Home Promised won the 2014 Air Canada Best Shorts Award, festivals in Cannes. Existenz gives him the opportunity to realize his two short films No Body and and has traveled around festivals in North America. She’s now working on two dramatic shorts The Way of Tea. Marc is currently finishing the writing of his feature film. and continuing to diversify and grow as an emerging filmmaker.

The Home Promised Les frémissements du thé

20 REGENT PARK FILM FESTIVAL REEL IMAGES REAL COMMUNITIES 21 WE LIVE THIS James Burns Documentary | USA | 2015 | 11 mins

An inspiring documentary, We Live This follows four teens from the projects who unite to pursue their dreams as performers. Dancing on the subway platforms and in trains, these teens continue to gain local fame, both good and bad, doing what they aspire. While this documentary follows the concept of poverty and struggles among the youth in the projects, who are surrounded by both positive and negative opinions, the passion and motivation that lies within these young performers continue to enrich the eyes of many.

James Burns is an award-winning director based out of New York City. His most recent short film, We Live This, took the Jury Prize at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival. The narrative feature film Jamesy Boy, was based on his early life story. Burns’ passion lies in telling stories of the human condition.

Q&A with filmmakers in attendance.

Co-Presenter Community Partner: LIFT Margarita, With a Straw

MARGARITA, WITH A STRAW FRIDAY NOVEMBER 20 | 8:30 PM - 10:45 PM

Shonali Bose Drama | India | 2014 | 100 mins

Laila is a strong willed and adventurous young adult with cerebral palsy on a journey of sexual and personal self-discovery. She travels from India to New York to pursue her dreams with her mother in tow. On this journey Laila faces challenges and adventures and comes to realise what is most important in life.

Margarita, With a Straw is ’s second feature film. She was the first Indian to win the Sundance-Mahindra Global Filmmaker award for the script in 2012. Bose’s debut film Amu – opened at the Berlin Film Festival followed by Toronto and many more top international film festivals. It won numerous awards including the FIPRESCI and the National Award and garnered huge critical acclaim. Bose has an MFA in Directing from the UCLA Film School and currently lives between Los Angeles and .

Talkback with Indu Vashist, Andrew Morrison-Gurza and Stella Palikarova.

Co-Presenter Community Partner We Live This

22 REGENT PARK FILM FESTIVAL REEL IMAGES REAL COMMUNITIES 23 13th ANNUAL REGENT PARK FILM FESTIVAL SCHEDULE AT A GLACE f fiction d documentary s shorts w workshop t talback

WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY NOVEMBER 18 NOVEMBER 19 NOVEMBER 20 NOVEMBER 21

9:00 AM - 3:00 PM 9:00 AM - 2:30 PM 9:00 AM - 2:00 PM 9:00 AM - 11:15 AM

SCHOOL PROGRAM SCHOOL PROGRAM SCHOOL PROGRAM FREE BREAKFAST & A MOVIE: SHANA: THE WOLF’S MUSIC Breakfast served 9:00 AM, 3:00 PM - 9:00 PM 3:00 PM - 9:00 PM 3:00 PM - 9:00 PM film starts 9:30 AM. FESTIVAL LOUNGE FESTIVAL LOUNGE FESTIVAL LOUNGE 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM Films provided by Toronto Reel Films provided by The National Film Films provided by Inside Out Asian International Film Festival Board of Canada (NFB) LGBT Film Festival LOWDOWN TRACKS

3:30 PM - 5:30 PM 3:00 PM - 5:30 PM 3:00 PM - 6:00 PM 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM INTERGENERATIONAL SPEAKERS CORNER DIGITAL ACTIVISM SCREENING INTERGENERATIONAL FILMMAKING WORKSHOP DAY 2: PRESENTATION AND WORKSHOP & PANEL: AFTER THE LAST RIVER FILMMAKING WORKSHOP EDITING SKILLS WITH BABEL COLLECTIVE DAY 1: CAMERA SKILLS Off-Site (Trinity Square Video) 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM 7:30 PM - 9:30 PM 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM 2:30 PM - 4:30 PM KAAKA MUTTAI RBC EMERGING DIRECTORS’ (THE CROW’S EGG) SHORTS: REIMAGINING HOME SHORTS: TESTAMENTS OF HOME SPOTLIGHT & PITCH EVENT Gazonto, Three Walks, The Routes, My Enemy My Brother, Happy 1 Year, Joy, Shade, The Home Promised, Seeds of the Past, Call and Response, The Story of Lover’s Leap 8:30 PM - 10:45 PM Canicule (Summer Day), Home, Holy Mother My Mother, Les fremissements du thé, Seaview, Abel’s Mom, Julio MINA WALKING We Live This 12:00 PM - 6:00 PM 8:30 PM - 10:45 PM FESTIVAL LOUNGE Films provided by ImagineNATIVE MARGARITA, WITH A STRAW Film + Media Arts Festival

5:00 PM - 7:30 PM HOME FEELING: STRUGGLE FOR A COMMUNITY Preceded by The Capsule

8:00 PM - 9:30 PM CLOSING NIGHT FILM: MEET THE PATELS AWARDS CEREMONY

24 REGENT PARK FILM FESTIVAL REEL IMAGES REAL COMMUNITIES 25 Shana: The Wolf’s Music

FREE BREAKFAST & A MOVIE: SHANA: THE WOLF’S MUSIC SATURDAY NOVEMBER 21 | 9:00 AM - 11:15 AM

Nino Jacusso Drama | Switzerland / Canada | 2013 | 95 mins

Shana: The Wolf’s Music is a coming-of-age story about a young girl named Shana who is going through a difficult time coming to terms with losing her mother. As Shana begins distancing herself from friends and family alike, a teacher who befriends her discovers her musical talent. Soon, Shana begins to find ways to listen to her ancestors and follow her heart in SATURDAY pursuing her dreams as a musician. NOVEMBER 21 Born in Southern Italy in 1955, Nino Jacusso immigrated to Switzerland with his parents in 1960. From 1974 to 1978, he studied at the University of Television and Film in Munich . Currently Nino Jacusso is a member of the Verbrand Filmregie und Drehbuch Scheiz ARF/FDS, the Swiss Association for Film Directing & Script Writing.

A delicious pancake breakfast will be served at 9:00 AM. Film begins at 9:30 AM.

Co-Presenter Community Partner

Breakfast generously provided by

26 REGENT PARK FILM FESTIVAL REEL IMAGES REAL COMMUNITIES 27 LOWDOWN TRACKS SATURDAY NOVEMBER 21 | 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM

Shelley Saywell Documentary | Canada | 2015 | 88 mins

Inspired by Depression-era musicians who recorded folk music in the early 20th century, filmmaker Shelley Saywell and Lorraine Segato of The Parachute Club follow five homeless musicians in Toronto, who are provided with recording studio session time and Segato’s band to create an album. As the recording process unfolds, the artists recount their stories of addiction and abuse, their struggles with the bureaucratic issues and the financial hardship of life on the street. Lowdown Tracks is a moving portrait of poverty, homelessness, and the power of music as a means of healing, reconnection and survival.

Shelley Saywell has been making documentaries for almost 30 years with Deborah Parks and the Bishari Films team. She was Hot Docs Festival Director in Focus in 2003, where she earned two Best Canadian Feature Awards. Her films have been official selections at festivals worldwide, been broadcast in more than 30 countries, made the short list (top 10 documentary features) at the ®, and received numerous awards including an Emmy® for Investigative Journalism. The Routes Talkback with AJ Wither, Shelley Saywell and Lorraine Segato. SHORTS: TESTAMENTS OF HOME Co-Presenter Community Partner SATURDAY NOVEMBER 21 | 2:30 PM - 4:30 PM

Home means something deeply personal and specific to all of us, these films reflect on that unique and special bond we have to the places we call home.

THE ROUTES James McDougall Documentary | Canada | 2014 | 4 mins

A route forges connections, builds networks and bridges people, place and space. James “Zick” McDougall’s The Routes captures this integration through the lens of a picturesque bicycle ride on his First Nation Reserve, Kitigan Zibi, and its surrounding community. By engaging with the intimacies of geography and nostalgia, the film moves past introspection and contemplates the relative nature of traumatic memory and loss. In steering the path towards the plight of two local missing women, Maisy Odjick and Shannon Alexander, the film foregrounds the roots of identity and kinship and poses questions about the structures of remembrance, collective inquiry, responsibility and resolve.

James McDougall, known as Zicks, has a passion for cycling. He works at the Kitigan Zibi Health and Social Services. James hopes to cycle across Canada to raise awareness on missing and murdered Aboriginal women. The Routes is Zick’s first film with Wapikoni Mobile.

Lowdown Tracks

28 REGENT PARK FILM FESTIVAL REEL IMAGES REAL COMMUNITIES 29 MY ENEMY MY BROTHER Ann Shin Documentary | Canada | 2015 | 18 mins

My Enemy, My Brother is a compelling story of human connection in the most unlikely of circumstances. As two war vets recall their harrowing memories of the Iran-Iraq war, a specific moment that stands out when one profound encounter would change the paths of their lives forever. Paths that, decades later, bring both men to their new home in Canada. Call And Response Passing Ann Shin is an award-winning Director, Producer and principal of Fathom Film Group. Her last project The Defector won 7 awards including Best Documentary and Best Documentary Director at the 2014 Canadian , a SXSW Interactive Award, and Canadian Digi Award. Her latest cross-platform project, My Enemy, My Brother was selected for Tribeca Film Festival, Hot Docs and Sheffield Doc/Fest and will be a featured New York Times OpDoc. CALL AND RESPONSE SEEDS OF THE PAST Craig Commanda Aisha Jamal Documentary | Canada | 2015 | 5 mins Documentary | Afghanistan & Canada | 2015 | 7 mins A guitar solo opens to a young Native man who encounters a man in traditional attire, responding What does home feel like? After emigrating from Afghanistan, Amina and Abdul Bari make a new to his guitar solo with his drum. Call and Response demonstrates communication between two home in Canada. Through their love for gardening and nostalgia for their homeland they create a cultures through music. beautiful oasis, where each flower and shrub evoke a memory; a closeness to history, family, childhood and homeland. Craig Commanda was born in 1991. He is an Anishnabe from Kitigan Zibi. Passionate about music, he plays guitar and bass. He worked as an audio technician at Indigenous Culture and Media Born in Kandahar, Afghanistan, Aisha Jamal is a Toronto-based filmmaker and academic. Innovations (ICMI) in Kitigan Zibi. He is getting more and more interested in filmmaking. Her short films have played at festivals and venues in Canada and around the world. Currently, she teaches film theory at Sheridan College while working on various film projects. PASSING Lucah Rosenberg-Lee & J. Mitchel Reed Documentary | Canada | 2015 | 22 mins

In this ground-breaking intimate documentary profile, three young Trans men of colour reflect on their place within the urban settings of Houston, Toronto and Brooklyn, while examining the personal narrative histories of identity, transition, masculine performativity and representation. Through insight into the precarious nature of contemporary gender and race norms, relations and expectations, each individual’s journey weaves together records of resilience and growth and highlights the diverse needs of a growing, yet underserved LGBTQ population. By rendering the unfamiliar recognizable, Passing serves as an agent for cultural change and generates a safe space to unpack themes of social progress, love and acceptance.

J. Mitchel Reed grew up in a home with two investigative journalists that fuelled his fire to hunt for stories and search for the truth. He graduated with honours and awards with his feature film, My Enemy My Brother Seeds Of The Past Emma, winning the President’s Award as well as Best Practicum, Best and Best Single Camera Production.

Lucah Rosenberg-Lee is a Toronto-based independent filmmaker who studied Sociology and Equity Studies at the University of Toronto. Lucah explores social aspects from the many different perspectives his life has given him. His love for film and academics go hand in hand in his passion to tell stories that will move people.

30 REGENT PARK FILM FESTIVAL REEL IMAGES REAL COMMUNITIES 31 Home (Portrait Of Daybi) Holy Mother My Mother Seaview Abel’s Mom

HOME (PORTRAIT OF DAYBI) SEAVIEW Mathieu Favreau Zinnia Naqvi Documentary | Canada | 2015 | 5 mins Documentary / Experimental | Canada & Pakistan | 2015 | 12 mins

Daybi, an accomplished Canadian rapper who has lived and worked in both New York and Los Having spent parts of her childhood in Karachi, Pakistan where her family had lived before Angeles, tells a story of his return to a reserve community. At the Kahnawake Mohawk reserve he immigrating to Canada, the filmmaker decides to revisit the country as an adult, 17 years later. has found a home base with an enriching cultural environment to inspire his art and expression By superimposing voiceover and textual commentary on old home videos, as well as juxtaposing and provide a nurturing setting for his son to grow up in. past footage with recent captures, the filmmaker comments on the deceptive nature of image- making and how it might configure one’s memory, while also reflecting on the gender norms that Born in Montreal, Mathieu Favreau had, from an early age, a passion for cinema. He directed his were expected of her during her stay in Pakistan. first short film at 21 and founded a motion design company at 24. Versatile, he perfected over the years his skills as editor, cinematographer, animator and director. His commercial projects help Zinnia Naqvi is an emerging image based artist working out of Toronto. She received a Bachelors finance personal endeavors close to his heart. In 2011, a trip to Cambodia inspired him to make his of Fine Arts (BFA) from Ryerson University’s, Image Arts: Photography Studies program. Zinnia is first self-financed feature film: Rumdul Beat, currently in postproduction. rooted in the documentary practice and continues to seek inspiration through cultural observation. Her work addresses issues of globalism, transnationalism and identity. HOLY MOTHER MY MOTHER Vivek Shraya ABEL’S MOM Documentary | Canada & India | 2014 | 8 mins Kick Start Arts Society Drama | Canada | 2015 | 7 mins In 2013 the filmmaker travelled with his family to India for the nine-day Navratri Festival. In documenting his experience, the filmmaker not only celebrates the Divine Mother goddess This short, compelling film tells the story of how our central character came to live in Canada. but also his own mother, whom he follows throughout the trip as she reflects on the joys and This is one episode of a web series that is being developed as part of Kick Start Art Society’s trials of motherhood. Regent Park Project. This ‘test’ video is the first piece produced - part of a much larger filmmaking initiative, which will be produced in the spring. Vivek Shraya is a Toronto-based artist. Vivek has released albums ranging from acoustic folk-rock to electro synth pop, driven by powerful vocals, incisive lyrics, and tight pop hooks. God Loves This film was developed by Kick Start Arts Society, through a collaborative process with Hair, his first collection of short stories, was a 2011 Lambda Literary Award finalist, won the professional artists and youth from the community, who both acted and filmed this piece. Applied Arts Award for Illustration in 2010, and is currently being used as a textbook at several Artistic Director, Sheena D. Robertson and Technical Director, Richard Fung were the lead artists. post-secondary institutions. Vivek has performed and read at shows and festivals internationally, sharing the stage with Tegan and Sara, Dragonette, and Melissa Ferrick, and appearing at NXNE, CMW, and Word on the Street. His music has also been featured on the TV show Degrassi, and Seeking Single White Male, his first short film, debuted in the fall of 2010.

32 REGENT PARK FILM FESTIVAL REEL IMAGES REAL COMMUNITIES 33 HOME FEELING: STRUGGLE FOR A COMMUNITY SATURDAY NOVEMBER 21 | 5:00 PM - 7:30 PM

Jennifer Hodge Documentary | Canada | 1983 | 58 mins

In the age of the Black Lives Matter movement, we are aware of the issues facing communities of colour in Toronto today: police violence and harassment as well as poverty and gentrification. These stories are not new, Home Feeling: Struggle for a Community tells the story of the black population of Jane & Finch in the 1980s.

Jennifer Hodge (1951 - 1989) was a pioneer African-Canadian filmmaker of the 1970s and 1980s, producing a body of work known as realist social-issue documentary.

Home Feeling: Struggle for a Community is preceded by, THE CAPSULE Kevin Wynter Documentary (short) | Canada | 1997 | 28 mins

Created with found footage, Kevin Wynter stitches together a powerful and critical video essay that depicts drug dealings in Regent Park in the late 90’s from the perspective of the dealers and the users. Questioning the role that the media plays in stereotyping marginalized communities, Julio Wynter’s film takes us back to a very different time in the history of Regent Park.

Kevin Wynter spent his teenage years living in Regent Park before enrolling in the University of Toronto through an academic bridging program. After receiving his Hon. B.A. in cinema studies from U of T and a Master’s degree from York University, Kevin went on to earn a Ph.D. in film JULIO and media from the University of California, Berkeley. Kevin currently teaches film theory and Eui Yong Zong European cinema at Colgate University in New York. Documentary | | 2015 | 5 mins Talkback with Desmond Cole, Anupa Mistry, Tomas Kanene and Yusra Ali. Julio is a short documentary about the struggle that many face when taking care of a loved one. Set in Brazil, a young Korean woman is forced to take care of her brother Julio after being abandoned by both their parents. In this context, not only are they seen as foreign racially, but are Co-Presenter Community Partner also alienated due to Julio’s disability. It is from this that they draw strength from each other to endure. An inspiring film that will draw equal parts sympathy, as well as hope, Julio provides a new perspective on family, and how it is much more than its conventional definition.

Eui Yong Zong (MFA in Film at York University) is an award-winning filmmaker whose works have screened and won at TIFF Canada’s Top 10, Hot Docs, Montreal World Film Fest, and San Francisco. His latest docu-fiction won 2014 Toronto Film Critics Association Award.

Q&A with filmmakers in attendance.

Co-Presenter Community Partner

Home Feeling: Struggle for a Community The Capsule

34 REGENT PARK FILM FESTIVAL REEL IMAGES REAL COMMUNITIES 35 CLOSING NIGHT FILM: MEET THE PATELS FESTIVAL AWARDS SATURDAY NOVEMBER 21 | 8:00 PM - 9:30 PM

Ravi Patel Documentary | USA | 2013 | 88 mins

Finding one’s true love is easy for some, for the rest of us it’s a frustrating and heartbreaking RBC Emerging Director Award is presented to a filmmaker who process. Throw in a few traditional stipulations and meddling parents, and you have the hilarious delivered the winning pitch at our Emerging Directors’ Spotlight on and honest story of Ravi Patel. As a first-generation Indian American, Ravi is torn between Opening Night. Cash award of $1,000. traditional expectations and the lure of an independent life. Ravi breaks up with his white, red-haired, American girlfriend and goes on a worldwide quest to find love the traditional way, arranged matchmaking. Luckily his mother is a well-known matchmaker. With her help, he travels across North America and India in search of true love. DGC Ontario New Visions Award recognizes a young person who has participated in a Regent Park Film Festival workshop in the last year, and Ravi Patel’s directorial debut is the real-life romantic comedy Meet The Patels, executive who demonstrates a high level of potential as a filmmaker. They receive produced by Academy Award Winner Geralyn Dreyfous. The film features Ravi’s family and his $500 towards supporting their post-secondary education. comedic take on a sequence of events that involve his mother and his love life. As an actor, Ravi is most recognized for his work on Scrubs, It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, Transformers, Powder Blue, The New Normal, and is currently co-starring in the Fox Series Grandfathered alongside John Stamos. The Regent Park Film Festival and the Director’s Guild of Canada - Ontario are delighted to present the inaugural DGC Ontario New Visions Award to Itzel Valazquez Martinez. Co-Presenter Community Partner Itzel is an emerging filmmaker and a gifted photographer, whose keen eye translates the world beautifully to the world of film. She participated in the Kick Start Arts Society filmmaking conservatory here at the Regent Park Film Festival, where her passion and talent for directing shone through.

The DOC Institute Award is presented to the strongest Canadian short documentary in the 13th Annual Regent Park Film Festival. The winner receives one-year access to DOC Institute Master Series programming, an intimate professional development series focused on the craft and art of documentary media.

Rogers Audience Choice Award is presented to the film that receives the greatest number of audience votes during the 13th Annual Regent Park Film Festival. Winner receives an iPad from Rogers.

Meet The Patels

36 REGENT PARK FILM FESTIVAL REEL IMAGES REAL COMMUNITIES 37 DIGITAL ACTIVISM SCREENING & PANEL: AFTER THE LAST RIVER THURSDAY NOVEMBER 19 | 3:00 PM - 5:30 PM

Screening and workshop about the production and distribution of Vicki Lean’s extraordinary MFA thesis film After the Last River (winner of the Nigel Moore Award for Youth Programming, DOXA 2015). This innovative social-justice documentary explores First Nations activism in Attawapiskat in Northern Ontario, against the De Beers diamond mine. Following the screening, join us for an in-depth discussion exploring this film’s unique production and distribution WORKSHOPS strategies Speakers include: Vicki Lean (writer/director), Ali Kazimi (filmmaker/chair of Cinema & Media Arts Dept), Wanda Vanderstoop (Vtape distribution), and Julian Carrington (DOC, Festival Concierge)

Presented with

INTERGENERATIONAL FILMMAKING WORKSHOP

Apply online or in person at Daniel Spectrum Suite 240. Deadline October 30th, 2015.

This FREE two-day filmmaking workshop, facilitated by Pamela Matthews, brings together two Regent Park generations to collaborate on a film project. Participants, aged 18 - 29 and 50+, will learn camera, storytelling and editing skills. Participation in the workshop includes a free 1-year After The Last River membership to Trinity Square Video.

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 20 | 3:00 PM - 6:00 PM All workshops are presented in association with the Director’s Guild of Canada – DAY 1: CAMERA SKILLS DANIELS SPECTRUM Ontario and the support of the Andy and Beth Burgess Family Foundation. (585 DUNDAS STREET EAST)

SPEAKERS CORNER PRESENTATION AND WORKSHOP The first session, in a two-day workshop series, will focus on camera skills, interview techniques and visual storytelling methods with the specific focus of preparing teams to create a short film WITH BABEL COLLECTIVE in-class, together with their workshop partners. WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 18 | 3:30 PM – 5:30 PM SATURDAY NOVEMBER 21 | 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM Register in advance online, or at the Welcome Desk during the Festival. Limited availability. DAY 2: EDITING SKILLS TRINITY SQUARE VIDEO Filmmaking above most other art forms is collaborative. It requires the concentration and (401 RICHMOND STREET WEST) passion of a wide variety of individuals with an even wider variety of skills. However, what happens when filmmakers seek to collaborate with each other? Using the example of their The second day of this workshop series will give teams the chance to make use of the editing current Speakers Corner project, Babel Collective presents a workshop on how to organize, facilities at Trinity Square Video. Teams will learn fundamental editing stills and will be given the fund, and recognize the fundamental benefits of membership within a film collective. opportunity to experiment using the footage captured during the previous day’s session.

Presented with Presented with

38 REGENT PARK FILM FESTIVAL REEL IMAGES REAL COMMUNITIES 39 PART OF THE CYCLE Tess Martin Animation | Canada | 2013 | 8 mins This animated short teaches us about how our water reaches our homes and the impact we have on the water cycle. Tess Martin is an independent animator who works with cut-outs, ink, paint, sand or objects. Her most recent award-winning film is The Lost Mariner. Her films have displayed at galleries and festivals worldwide.

SEEKER WING Iris Moore Animation | Canada | 2014 | 8 mins A lyrical animated film about realizing one’s own inner beauty and self-worth. SCHOOL PROGRAM Iris Moore is a young emerging artist from British Columbia. Focused on painting, drawing and animation, she is interested Seeker Wing in exploring the fantastical and surreal, with the intention of evoking the viewer’s sense of whimsy and wonder.

LILLY’S BIG DAY The Regent Park Film Festival’s School Program provides media-literacy programming to students The Bum Family Animation | Canada | 2014 | 5 mins in Grades 1-12 across the GTA. Our programming creates a dialogue surrounding social issues affecting Toronto’s diverse student population. A monster named Lilly goes for a special day at the salon where everyone watches as she goes through her beauty rituals. To reserve seats for the School Program, please visit our website. The Bum Family are a group of Calgarian cousins, Maezy, Medina and Zaiyah Dennie (ages 11, 10 and 8), and Berlin, Ocean and Sol GRADES 1 – 3 Demuth (ages 11, 8 and 4) who create anarchy, hilarity and art. The Bum Family have screened at CIFF, Atlantic Film Festival and others. TUESDAY NOVEMBER 17 | 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM THE YO YO KID FRIDAY NOVEMBER 20 | 12:30 PM - 2:00 PM Sandy Braz Documentary | Canada | 2013 | 6 mins SNOWBALL A lyrical animated film about looking for and realizing one’s own Tess Martin inner beauty and self-worth. Animation | Canada | 2013 | 2 mins Sandy Braz is a journalist from Toronto who has covered In this comical and entertaining animated film, Tess Martin health, fitness and politics for 15 years. She directed a short doc, skilfully takes us on a snowball’s short journey across a bank The Yo Yo Kid in 2013 after meeting Kohel, the yo yo kid, of snow. randomly on the street. She followed his journey and made the film, which has screened at the Hot Docs Theatre and Revue Tess Martin is an independent animator who works with cut- Cinema in Toronto. outs, ink, paint, sand or objects. Her most recent award-winning film is The Lost Mariner. Her films have displayed at galleries and festivals worldwide.

40 REGENT PARK FILM FESTIVAL REEL IMAGES REAL COMMUNITIES 41 GRADES 4 - 6

TUESDAY NOVEMBER 17 | 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM NAYAN & THE EVIL EYE FRIDAY NOVEMBER 20 | 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM Shaleen Sangha Drama | Canada | 2015 | 10 mins Nayan finds a mysterious glass eye that he uses to curse anyone he ANNA’S PET PROJECT sets his eye on. Seth Tomlinson Animation | Canada | 2015 | 13 mins Shaleen Sangha is a writer, director, development executive and video artist. She is involved in the creation, development Anna uses a strange pet she discovers in the school playground and production of content in many forms, most notably she wrote in an attempt to gain power over her schoolyard bullies. and directed an award-winning short film Sohni Sapna (Beautiful Seth Tomlinson first got into filmmaking when he was twelve Dream) which was scored by Oscar winner Mychael Danna. years old, shooting sword and lightsaber fights in his backyard with a cheap digital camera. Since early 2013, he has been experimenting with traditional animation, and has directed YONGE STREET MISSION ANTI-BULLYING PSA Yonge Street Mission Film and Video Students and animated several shorts. Drama | Canada | 2015 | 1 min An informative PSA highlighting the effects and consequences INDIGO of bullying. Amanda Strong Animation | Canada | 2014 | 9 mins A group of ten wonderful students (grades 6-8) from the Regent Park neighbourhood come together to film and edit these creative, An intricate stop motion animation that weaves together personal fun and informational PSA’s and all through a 10-week process. stories and indigenous folklore. Participants: Subathana, Snit Aregawl, Dinoja Auligar, Mathushan Amanda Strong is an emerging filmmaker, photographer, Ganeshalingam, Prokrithy Hossain, Abhinayan Jeyanadarajah, and illustrator in the Toronto indie scene. Amanda graduated Ryan Kanagratnam, Mumtahina Mahabub, Shiyama Nageswaran, from Sheridan Institute (B.A. Illustration 2009, Diploma Applied Denver Welch. Photography 2005). Amanda’s film Honey for Sale along with her other shorts Riley and Alice Eaton premiered at the ImagineNATIVE film festival. KA MITSHELITAKUESS AUASS Isabelle Kanapé Animation | Canada | 2014 | 3 mins HEART Sam Karney A lesson about the the consequences of our actions told through Animation | Canada | 2015 | 3 mins shadows. A story of home that goes beyond the negative headlines Isabelle Kanapé had her first experience as a filmmaker with her and statistics. documentary Caserne 79 for Wakaponi Mobile. Sam Karney is a Métis writer of poetry, fiction and children’s literature. Her book, North End Love Songs won the 2013 DE FACE OU DE PROFIL Governor General Literary Award, Poetry. Sharon Fontaine Documentary | Canada | 2014 | 9 mins IRREPARABLE DAMAGE A profile picture is worth a thousand words in this story of who Julian Aboui we are, today. Drama | Canada | 2015 | 8 mins Sharon Fontaine was born in 1998 and lives in the Innu community A little girl encounters her first experience with bullying one of Uashat mak Mani-Utenam. She finished high school and will morning on the school bus. study Fine Arts at the Cégep de Sept-Iles. She loves music, art and Internet. Julian Aboui is a recent film school graduate of Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada. An actor first, Julian has been performing since he was nine years old.

42 REGENT PARK FILM FESTIVAL REEL IMAGES REAL COMMUNITIES 43 GRADES 7 - 8 GRADES 7 - 8 THURSDAY NOVEMBER 19 | 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM THURSDAY NOVEMBER 19 | 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM

PART OF THE CYCLE GAZONTO Tess Martin John Greyson Animation | Canada | 2013 | 8 mins Animation | Canada | 2014 | 5 mins This animated short teaches us about how our water reaches A very real illustration of what war and occupation could look like our homes and the impact we have on the water cycle. in the city of Toronto. Tess Martin is an independent animator who works with cut- John Greyson is a Toronto film/video artist whose shorts, features outs, ink, paint, sand or objects. Her most recent award-winning and installations have shown at festivals around the world films is The Lost Mariner. Her films have displayed at galleries garnering prestigious awards. An associate professor in film and festivals worldwide. production at York University, he was awarded the Toronto Arts Award for Film/Video, 2000, and the Bell Canada Video Art Award in 2007. A RIGHT TO EAT Janelle & Jérémie Wookey Documentary | Canada | 2015 | 49 mins ALMOST FRIENDS Nitzan Ofir The film looks at the current realities of food insecurity in one of the most isolated places Documentary | Israel | 2015 | 60 mins in Canada. A story about two people who attempt to develop a friendship across borders and two distinct cultures. Wookey Films Inc. is a Franco-Métis owned film and television production company launched by sister/brother duo Janelle and Jérémie Wookey. WF specializes in documentary and non-fiction Nitzan Ofir has worked extensively in the Israeli film and television industry, as a director assistant, television programming. line producer and researcher. She studied MFA studies of film and television at Tel Aviv University. Almost Friends is her debut film.

A Right To Eat Almost Friends

44 REGENT PARK FILM FESTIVAL REEL IMAGES REAL COMMUNITIES 45 GRADES 9 - 12 WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 18 | 9:00 AM - 11:30 AM

SPECIAL PRESENTATION: NO PLACE TO HIDE: THE REHTAEH PARSONS STORY Rama Rau Documentary | Canada | 2015 | 47 mins

When a community fails to come together and protect their own, a young girl suffers the consequences.

Rama Rau is an award winning writer-director who trained in films on one of the largest film sets in Mumbai, India. Now based in Toronto, Canada, Rama makes films that move easily between different continents and offer a global perspective on the human condition. Spanning fiction, non-fiction and digital media, Rama’s stories are intimate yet universal, character-driven and mostly about people who are marginalized by mass media.

Co-Presenter

GRADES 9 - 12 WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 18 | 12:30 PM - 3:00 PM

T-REX Drea Cooper & Zackary Canepari Documentary | USA | 2015 | 90 mins

A portrait of a young female boxer who fights against all odds to make it to the Olympics.

Zackary Canepari and Drea Cooper have worked together since 2009. Since then, they’ve produced and directed the award-winning online short documentary series California is a place. Their compelling visual style and deeply personal storytelling has earned Cooper and Canepari award nominations from IDFA DocLab for best digital storytelling and documentary project of the year by POYi. The directing duo landed on Filmmaker Magazine’s Top 25 New Filmmakers to Watch list.

Talkback with Savoy Howe from Shape Your Life Boxing Project.

46 REGENT PARK FILM FESTIVAL REEL IMAGES REAL COMMUNITIES 47 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Gail Picco DESIGN TEAM Chair Ronnie Williams Tariq Sami Vice Chair Festival Designer Teresa M. Ho Chad Mohr Treasurer Web Developer Cliona Taylor Fitzroy Facey Secretary Photographer Mark Thompson Jennifer Holness Maryna de Lannoy FUNDRAISING COMMITTEE Daniela Syrovy Deanna Wong Jill Cunningham, Alana Hood, Sonia Sakamoto-Jog, Alana Hood Vicki Nullmeyer, Gail Picco, Cliona Taylor

PAST BOARD MEMBERS COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE

Jason Creed Maryna de Lannoy, Allison Saretsky, Daniela Syrovy Carmen Dan Dobre Sonia Sakamoto-Jog Allison Saretsky SHORT-LISTING COMMITTEE

Arzu Abbasova, Lauren Ash, STAFF Ian Gerardo, Lauriana Mandody, Thiviya Manoharan, Lisa Anita Wegner Ananya Ohri Executive Director Elana Trainoff EMERGING DIRECTORS COMMITTEE Interim Executive Director Amanda Pileggi Lucius Dechausay, Victor CH Fan, Setti Kidane, Festival Manager Emily Jackson, Azed Majeed Onyeka Igwe Programmer Mariam Zaidi GENERAL PROGRAMMING COMMITTEE Programming Coordinator Vicki Nullmeyer Arzu Abbasova, Lauren Ash, Christiana Chow, Development Ian Gerrardo, Paul Kurti, Emily Macrae, Diana Villadi Lauriana Mandody, Thiviya Manoharan, Fundraising and Development Coordinator Brandy Skinner, Lisa Anita Wegner, Emile Wickham Kimberly Miller Pryce Volunteer Coordinator Kadon Douglas EDUCATION COMMITTEE Marketing and Outreach Coordinator Nadeesh Jayasinghe, Jarrod Lall, Marc Proudfoot, Julian Williams

48 REGENT PARK FILM FESTIVAL LIGHTS CAMERA ACTION INDIVIDUAL MEMBERSHIP DRIVE

THE REGENT PARK FILM FESTIVAL is absolutely free to attend, and we’re working hard to keep it that way. Help us keep it that way by joining our Individual Membership Drive at the LIGHTS, CAMERA or ACTION Level.

We are Toronto’s only free-of-charge multi-cultural community film festival, dedicated to showcasing local and international works relevant to inner-city communities across Toronto. We host an annual festival and also hold year-round school and community screenings, workshops and discussions at no cost.

LIGHTS CAMERA ACTION MEMBERSHIP MEMBERSHIP MEMBERSHIP $25 $100 $250

For more information, please visit http://regentparkfilmfestival.com/support/